


As Old As Time

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Yuma is a Girl [47]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gender or Sex Swap, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 16:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13999752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: “You’d sulk too if you turned into a monster,” Yuma had told him after Sargasso. Is this how she felt? Like she wanted to claw her way out of her own skin?





	As Old As Time

**Author's Note:**

> So I’m changing up the sequence of events here, as well as who all shows up. We’re not going to have the appearances the Four Villains of the Dark Duels (because those duels were time wasters), and I certainly was not going to have Ryoga skulking around the old mansion when the big disappearance happens. So here we go, the first switcharoo.

Watching the seas part as the enormous being rose from the depths was terrifying enough, but watching his sister, his beloved twin, ride to the end of the dock, having a gut feeling of what was about to happen…it was horrific.

He screamed her name, over and over, unable to reach her with his arms but hoping his voice would carry to her and make her go back. She had to go back, she had to!

His friends hopped on the Pegasus and tried to catch her as she fell, but the God grabbed her and squeezed her tight in his fist.

“No, no!” He screamed.

She smiled at him, he could make out her lips, mouthing _‘It’s okay,’_ but how could it be okay, how?!

“Merag!” He wails—

 

Ryoga shoots up in his bed, drenched in sweat and his heart going a mile a minute. He kicks the blankets off and strips off his soaked pajamas. Once dressed, he stumbles into the kitchen and straight for the coffee.

It’s been just over 48 hours since they left the last ruin, and Ryoga has been consumed with what he’s seen. He saw himself fighting, leading a kingdom into war against Vector, and being aided by Durbe. He saw Rio go willingly to her death. The scariest part was how real it felt. He could feel the weight of the sword in his hands, smell the ocean, feel the collective terror as the God rose from the ocean. It felt like…a memory.

But for that to be true, he would need to be a reincarnation of the emperor connected to that ruin. And following the logic of the other five ruins, which were connected to Barian emperors…he and Rio would be Barians.

Ryoga sits at the kitchen table and sips his coffee. The TV is still on from last night, talking about abnormal weather phenomenon all over the world. Ryoga couldn’t care less about the weather at the moment. How could he be a Barian? He’s never felt like one, he has no memory of it, and none of the other Barians have recognized him—which they surely would have done, if it were true. But the ruins called Rio to them, and he can’t deny the feeling he got from them, nor can he ignore the way the guardian of the ruin, Abyss, spoke to him—about proving his worth, about overcoming the test.

But he hates the Barians! They’re monsters, they don’t care who they hurt, they used Yuma, and Rio, and they used him, too. Ryoga’s blood boils at the thought that he could possibly be one of _them_. He would sooner tear out his own eyes à la Blind Mag than admit he’s one of those stone creatures.

He puts his coffee cup down and clenches his hands tight so he won’t see his fingers shaking. He imagines turning into a Barian, his skin splitting apart and gems sprouting from the rock that became his new skin, his nails lengthening, his mouth vanishing…

Ryoga shudders and stands up, walking out of the apartment and onto the landing outside. It’s early, but people are out and about, calling to each other, collecting the morning paper, and generally going about their day. How can they go on as if all is normal? How can it be that he’s the only one falling apart?

 _“You’d sulk too if you turned into a monster,”_ Yuma had told him after Sargasso. Is this how she felt? Like she wanted to claw her way out of her own skin? She was right, it was worth sulking over. Maybe it had been some kind of prophecy, her saying that to him. If he’s a Barian, then he truly is a monster.

He hears the door open and turns—Rio edges out on to the landing, sliding on her glasses. “Oh, so here you are,” she says, coming to stand behind him, close enough that their arms touch as they each rest their elbows on the railing. “Still thinking about the ruins, I see.”

“Aren’t you?” Ryoga asks her.

Rio frowns at him. “This doesn’t have to mean we’re Barians,” she says seriously, cutting right to the heart of Ryoga’s concerns. “Barians of any kind, never mind Barian emperors.”

“But in the other ruins, the memories have always kind of…shown themselves, I guess, to the Barians,” Ryoga objects. “So the fact that we saw those things…”

“The Barians being human incarnations of the people in the legends was just a theory,” Rio reminds him. “It could be true. It could also be that the legend, or the energy of the ruin, latched on to any being who was present. It’s possible that the Numbers protected Yuma from the influence of that energy, and so the energy went to someone else.”

“And happened to latch on to the Barians?” Ryoga asks.

Rio shrugs. “Barians have energy of their own. Maybe the power of the ruins was drawn to it. Haven’t stranger things happened?”

Ryoga still isn’t convinced. “But what if it is true, and we…we are Barians?”

“Does it matter?” Rio asks crossly. “Do you remember being a Barian?”

At that, Ryoga smiles. “No.”

“Do you remember being Yuma’s friend?” Rio continues, her eyes fierce. “Do you remember the sleepovers? Do you remember loving her, and how much she loves us?”

Ryoga nods.

“Then that’s what matters,” Rio says. “And if you hurt Yuma, I don’t care how much I love you, I will actually maim you.”

“Yes, Rio,” Ryoga says. That’s right, it doesn’t matter. He loves Yuma.

“If it still bothers you, go to our old place,” Rio says. “That place is practically a ruin itself. Let those memories take hold of you.”

It’s not a bad idea, giving himself something else to be miserable over (though that surely wasn’t her meaning), so Ryoga decides to do just that. He tells his sister to go back to bed and he heads off for the old mansion that his family used to live in.

Few people know that the pendant he wears is actually a locket. It’s a clever design, it attaches to the choker with a thin wire that he can pull out. As he walks, he pulls the pendant out and opens it to look at the picture inside. It was one of the last that they had taken with their parents. They were so happy—that happiness had been real. Just like the accident that took their parents away from them was real.

Ryoga arrives at the house and pushes the rusted front gate open. It’s not a house, actually, it’s a mansion. He smiles as he remembers Yuma’s shocked face when she saw it for the first time. She had loved all the dramatic staircases, saying that they were perfect for pictures before school dances, and for reenacting Sarah’s dramatic tantrum in the opening of Labyrinth.

Now, the house feels too big for Ryoga. It’s funny, because it’s the same size it’s always been, but when he was a kid, it never felt like an especially large house. Maybe because it was normal for him, or maybe because it was always busy. Even when their parents weren’t home, there was the staff, and Yuma was over several times a week, so the three of them would fill the house with noise.

Ryoga goes into the formal sitting room. The old suit of armor is gone, sold before their parents died, because it almost killed him. He can see the scene playing out as if he’s watching a movie.

_He and Rio had been fighting over something, he doesn’t even remember what, but she had dashed around the suit of armor and Ryoga had bumped into it. The thing would have fallen on Rio, if Ryoga hadn’t pushed her out of the way at the last second. One of the edges of the armor cut right through his shirt and sliced open his shoulder. He needed stitches to close it, and Rio had been hysterical. Mom had done her best to comfort Rio while Ryoga sat on his dad’s lap for the stitches. On the way home, dad drove and mom tucked each of them under an arm in the backseat._

_“My babies,” she said. “Mama is sorry. That old suit of armor should have been taken out when you two learned to crawl. There now Rio, Ryoga, it was just an accident. You both know that, don’t you?”_

_Ryoga nodded and held Rio’s hand. “Why are you crying?”_

_“Because I don’t want my big brother to be hurt,” Rio had sniffled. “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”_

_Mom had kissed her head. “There, there, dear. No hurt lasts forever. Nothing bad ever lasts forever.”_

“Nothing bad ever lasts forever,” Ryoga says to himself now.

He still feels the loss of his parents, but it’s gotten easier to live with over time. He still has Rio, and Yuma. He has Yuma as more than a friend now, she’s his girlfriend. She might just be the love of his life, sappy as it may sound. She pulled him out of a dark place, she was his rock through the entire WDC. Rio is right, even if he was a Barian, it wouldn’t matter—he would never side with them, because he would never betray Yuma like that. And while she doesn’t like Barians either, he has to think that if he was one…she wouldn’t stop loving him.

With that, Ryoga decides to head home. He leaves the house and closes the gate, and as he walks down the sidewalk, his phone rings—it’s Rio, and in his gut he knows something is wrong.

“Hurry!” Rio urges him, “Something is wrong with Yuma! Go to her, she’s at the embankment, the usual spot, go quickly!”

 

* * *

 

Ryoga arrives just as the flash of light fades, but he won’t find out what happened until they’re at the hospital, waiting outside Yuma’s room while the doctor examines her.

Apparently, Kite had asked Yuma to meet him, so they could talk about the weird weather and his theory behind it. Before they could even start talking, they had been swallowed by light and found themselves in an alternate dimension, facing Number 96. The Spirit had beefed up dramatically since they last saw it, and it was determined to defeat Yuma and Astral and take their Numbers. Yuma had dueled 96 at first, but something was wrong with her—the field messed with her head. Astral took over for her, and when it became too much for him, they formed Zexal. They won, but 96 had one last attack. Zexal split apart, and 96 pierced through Astral’s chest. It seemed that Astral beat 96 in a battle of wills, but he was damaged. He had said goodbye to Yuma, and she begged him not to go, but he disappeared, and so did the Emperor’s Key.

As long as he lives, Ryoga will never forget the sounds of Yuma screaming for Astral, for him to come back, for Ryoga to let go of her so she can go after him. This may not be something she can get over, ever.

_“Nothing bad ever lasts forever.”_

Ryoga’s starting to wonder if his mom had it wrong after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I have actually written very far ahead in the series, so far that I'm writing the end as we speak. So since I know you're on the edge of your seat, I'll be posting the next part soon!


End file.
